Sports
University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, June 5, 1991
11
Sports briefs
1988 starter Newton winner of scholarship
Former Kansas basketball player Milt Newton in May received the Fred G. Soxman Memorial Scholarship, an award given annually to a graduate student who earned an athletic letter as a KU undergraduate.
Bob Frederick, athletic director,
said Newton planned on pursuing a career as an athletic director.
"It will be an outstanding athletic director some day because he has integrity, and he cares about his students and their development," Frederick said.
Newton, a member of the Jayhawk team from 1985 to 1989 and a Spring 1989 graduate, returned to the University in 2003 and fell off of his course to continue his education.
This summer Newton is in Nova Scotia playing for the Halifax Windjammers of the World Basketball League.
Newton was a redshirt during Kansas' 1986 Final Four season but was a starter on the national championship team in 1988. In his senior season he was named Kansas' most valuable player and was second team all-Big Eight.
After graduating, Newton spent the 1989 season with Grand Rapids and Rockford of the Continental Basketball League, whom he played for Illinois of the WBL.
Collective athlete GPA breaks previous record
Kansas athletes achieved a collective 2.81 grade point average during the 1991 spring semester, the highest of any state since that that the statistic has been recorded.
Paul Bushkirk, assistant athletic director for student support services, attributed the grade improvement to the recruitment of higher caliber students and an increased commitment to academics by the coaching staffs.
"I's in the coaches 'best interest to stress academics,' Buskirk said. " players don't perform well in the field," he says. "the pool, on the field, on the court, or in the pool."
Before last semester, Jayhawk athletes' collective low was a 2.46 GPA, which occurred in 1986, the first year the statistic was recorded. The previous collective high was a 2.77, accomplished in the spring of 1990.
KC halts Texas' seven-win streak, beats Rangers by 3
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITTY, Mo. — Danny Tattallar returned from injury with a decisive homer, and Mike Boddicker again batted Texas as the Kansas won 4-1 last night to end the Rangers' seven-game road winning streak.
Tartabul, in his first game since being hit in the hand May 27, broke a 1-1 tie by homering off Jose Gurzman (0-2) in the seventh innning. The loss was the first on the road loss for Texas since May 11.
Boddicker (4-4) gave up four huts — all doubles — for his first victory since May 12 while raising his lifetime record against Texas to 13.4. He joined and walked two in eight innings, refitting the last 16 Rangers he faced.
Jeff Montgomery pitched the ninth for his 10th save.
Texas had three doubles in the first four innings, including one that put Ruben Sierra in the club record book
With two out in the third. Rafael Palmiro doubled into right and rode home on a double by Sierra.
The Rangers then loaded the bases when Julio Franco walked and Kevin Reimer was hit by a pitch. But Boddicker escaped by getting Juan Verduzco out into the game hitting .336 to fly out. He also retired the next 15 hitters.
Carmelo Martinez walked, leading off the Kansas City city, took third on a double by Shurt Stillwell and tied on Terry Schumper's sacrilege fly.
Sierra's first double was his 318th
hit, bit breaking the Texas
record of Fletcher.
Texas left fielder Jack Daugherty left the game with a bruised thigh after colliding with shortstop Jeff Bentley while goafter a pop foal in the third.
Kirk Gibson had an RBI triple and scored on George Brett's sacrifice fly.
Trade spurs reunion for former Jayhawks
Kevin Pritchard is going home.
Kansan sportswriter
By David Mitchell
From Kansan staff reports
that's going home" a postseason trade last month sent the former Kansas guard and Tulsa, Okla. native to the San Antonio Spurs.
"I think it's an excellent opportunity for me," he said. "They need outside shooting and leadership,
With Golden State, Pritchard was relegated to the bench behind guards Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond. He averaged 12.5 minutes a game, more time than a cookie on the San Antonio roster.
But he sees a chance to play a larger role for the Spurs.
Pritchard, who spent his rookie season with the Golden State Warriors, is glad to be back close to home.
"I'm a Jayhawk until I die," said Pritchard. "I love the Midwest. I want to be close to the Midwest. We would teams we would be Dallas or Denver."
and I think those are my strong points."
The Warriors obtained the Spurs' second-round draft choice in 1983 in exchange for Pritchard.
With the Spurs, Pritchard said he would be used primarily as a reserve behind guards Willie Anderson and Rod Strickland.
Although Strickland is a restricted free agent. Spurs' vice
Kevin Pritchard
president Bob Bass said the move was not insurance or leverage for Strickland's negotiations.
"We would have made the trade regardless of whether or not Strickland was a free agent." Bass said.
"Kevin has a chance to be a good NBA player," he said. "We had a chance to get him and we took advantage of it."
In obtaining Pritchard the Spurs have reunited him with former Kansas coach Larry Brown. Pritchard said he was excited by the idea of playing for his old coach.
"He always seems to bring out the best in me." Pritchard said. "I wee ocoach Brown a lot. He made me part of the player I am today."
While the opportunity is there, Pritchard realizes that the reunion may be short-lived. He said he had heard reports that Brown was considering moving on after three years in San Antonio.
"I still feel very good about the trade," he said.
UNLV coach requests university meeting to clear up controversy involving players
The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian says he is pleased with the response of the university regent to the request that he has hit his basketball program
"The regents were very attentive," Tarkanian said Monday night after he emerged from a five-hour, closed-room meeting.
"They listened to what I had to say. They gave me an opportunity to go through everything."
Tarkianan requested a meeting with the regents in light of growing pressure brought on by contacts between players and players and a conspired staff fixer
"I was very pleased. It was an excellent meeting," he said as he hurried to his car with two attorneys at his side.
Tarkarian said the remaining two years of his contract were not discussed and he answered sharply that he had no intention fixer Richard Ferry was addressed.
Tarkanian said he asked for the meeting with the regents to clear the air about the latest controversy. Several regents expressed dismay after photos were published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal showing members of the Rebels' 1990 national championship team with Perry.
One photo shows Perry in a hot tub with former players Moses Scurry, David Butler and Anderson Hunt. Another shows the four playing basketball on a court at Perry's Las Vegas home.
"I'm not going to talk about any thing like that," he said.
One of Tarkanian's attorneys, Charles Thompson, was asked if the contract issue was settled.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's settled," Thompson said.
Regent June Whitley said there was no vote on Tarkanian's contract. "We can never take a vote in executive session," she said.
from the state, the highest salary of any state employee. He also has numerous side contracts and perks that would have to be resolved if the university wanted to buy out his contract.
Tarkanian earns $203,976 a year
Several regents said that any decision regarding the future of Tarkanian would be made by UNLV president Robert Maxson. However, they had to comment after emerging from the meeting a short time after Tarkanian
"It was a closed personnel session," Maxson said. "Legally and ethically, I can't say anything at all."
The coach said that he warred his players in 1899 to stay away from Perry, who was convicted in 1974 of fixing horse races in New York and was involved in the 1884 Boston basketball point-shaving scandal
Tarkanian, who has expressed concern for his job, has a court injunction preventing his firing unless he knowingly commit serious NCAA
Many of the violations center on former New York City prep star Lloyd Daniels, who played for Perry in summer league ball and was encouraged by Perry to come to UNLV.
The university is filing a response to an NCAA letter of inquiry that alleges 29 UNL violations. Few of the violations involve Tarkanian.
Perry has denied any misconduct in relation to the UNLV basketball program and released a five-page statement, through his attorney, Oscar Goodman.
In his statement, Perry denied any wrongdoing involving either Daniels or Scurry.
Former UNLV players Armon Gilliam, now with the Philadelphia 76ers, and Sidney Green, now with the San Antonio Spurs, spent Monday afternoon waiting in the 95-degree heat for an opportunity to let the regents know their feelings about their college coach.
Top female seeds progress in Paris
Becker and Agassi blast past opponents into semifinal showdown of hard-hitters
The Associated Press
PARIS — Mixing power and clay-court finesse, Boris Becker overwhelmed former champion Michael Chang in straight sets yesterday to set up a French Open semifinal showdown with André Assagi
Becker complemented his booming serve-and-volley game with steady baseline play to defeat the 1989 champion 6,4, 6-4, 6-2 and reach the semifinals for the third time in five years.
Agassi needed only 75 minutes to demolish Jakob Hakase 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 losing only seven points on his serve in the final two sets.
Women's third seed Gabriela Sabatini overcame two match points against Jana Novotna and won 10 of the last 11 games to earn a semifinal spot against defending champion Monica Seles.
"It was perfect . . . almost perfect." Becker said. "I knew from the beginning what I had to do. I had to put my strength — my power — over his strength, his legs. That's exactly what I did, from the first point on. As the match went on, it got better and better."
Chang, who beat Jimmy Connors and French favorite Gus Forget in two emotionally draining matches to the tune of 'Blowin' on him, said he was helpless against Becker.
"I think today Boris just played too well," Chang said. "He didn't miss a whole lot of groundstrokes. I don't think I did anything major wrong. I just play he played consistently. And then the shot was there he went for it."
Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario will meet in tomorrow's other semifinal.
Becker was nearly flawless as he continued to tailor his grass-court game to the slow clay. His serve was great. He knocked back the best service returners in tennis.
Agassi won with even greater ease, capturing 14 of the final 16 games against Hlasek. The fourth-seeded Agassi, who lost in the final last year,
Boris Becker
took advantage of the Swiss player's repeated backhand errors.
The Agassi-Becker semifinal set for Friday will feature two of the hardest hitters in tennis. Becker won four games but lost three, but Agassi has won the last three.
Hlasek, who prefers hard courts, was playing in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
The other men's semifinalists will be decided today, with top seed Shen Edberg facing Jim Courter. Shen Stich play传奇 Franco Davin.
"I completely failed today."
Hasek said. "I was wondering myself what happened out there. I made sure he just had to keep the ball in play."
Sabatini, who along with Graf dethrone Seles from the No. 1 ranking by winning the tournament, won the set 7-5 and trailed 3-2 in the second
Sabatini and Seles struggled toward their women's seminal, while Graf and Sanchez Vicario breezed to victory.
She forced a tie-breaker in which she saved two match points, then finally won it 12:10 on her sevent set point. A discouraged Novetna, the sixth seed, did not win a game in the third set.
Graf maintained her perfect record against Frenchwoman Natha Tauziat, the 13th seed, who now was not won a set in 14 career matches against the German. Graf won 6-3, 6-2 in 57 minutes.
Seles strolled to a 6-0 first-set victory over seventh seed Conchita Martinez but had more difficulty before winning the second set 7-5.
Break from classes
Steve Veluz, St. Louis, Mo., senior, hits a backhand return while playing tennis at Robinson Center.
Bulls hope to horn in on Lakers
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — The Los Angeles Lakers believe they have the poise, talent and experience to win again. They also boastier crowd at Chicago Stadium.
Reputed to have the loudest fans in the NBA, the Chicago Bulls saw their league-record 15-game playoff win winning streak snapped Sunday when the Lakers won Game 1 of the finals 93-91.
How do the Lakers, 5-2 on the road in the postseason, avoid coming unglued in the face hostility?
"The nucleus of the team, the core of us, knows what to expect. We try to use the hostile crowd as an incentive. The situation is not foreign to us."
The most experienced Los Angeles players, Magic Johnson, Worthy and Byron Scott, learned a lot about playing on the road in three finals against the Boston Celtics and the mystique of Boston Garden.
"We know that no one in the crowd can come on the floor and do something to us, so it's what the teams do on the court." James Worthy said. "Our mental preparation to play on the road is the key."
Vladie Divac, the Lakers' second-year center from Yugoslavia, is playing in his first finals, but said Eurotunnel would him for places like Chicago Stadium.
"The building doesn't make the game," Worthy said. "The fans and atmosphere make the game. Some of the most fun games are on the road."
"The crowds in Europe are crazier than here," Divac said. "They throw everything on the floor there, even the road and road is easier here, even in China."
"We've been successful on the road because we're totally focused," guard Bryon Seeton said. "We don't listen to anyone saying what we can and can't do on the other team's floor."
Magic Johnson, who had 19 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the opener, said his mental preparation has been key for road games than home games.
"As a point guard, I have to control the situation more on the road." Johnson said. "Every turnover, every possession, is more important on the road because every mistake is magnified by the crowd. Since I'm the leader of the team, I have to remember all those things."
Even if the Lakers lose tonight, they would have a chance to win the series with three consecutive victories at home.
But the Bulls have been even more successful on the road than the Lakers. Chicago is 4-1 on the road in the playoffs and it was 26-15 away from home during the regular season, compared to 25-16 by Los Angeles.
"We know we can win on the road and Chicago knows it can win on the road." Johnson said.
Because no team has ever won the title by starting with two losses at home, the Bulls realize they are in a must-win situation.
"This could be our last game at home, with three at their place, so there's a sense of urgency." Bulls center Bill Cartwright said.
"Teams who have reached this point in the season know how to win on the road, so you can't take it for granted that you will win at home." Michael Jordan said. "I wasn't surprised to see the Lakers display poise on the road in front of a tough crowd. You expect them to have that.